The research proposed here consists of a synthesis of two subfields of the sociology of deviant behavior: sexual behavior and identity. We are concerned principally with a systematic detailing of the dynamics involved in taking on a deviant identity, a deviant sexual identity, a homosexual identity. We intend to document the process whereby males begin to engage in sexual activity with persons of the same gender, decided they are sexually attracted to other males, define themselves as homosexual, affiliate themselves with the homosexual community, and fuse sexual and romantic activities. The proposed undertaking represents an elaboration on recent investigations of male homosexuality that have addressed the topic of homosexual identity. These, and the proposed research, suggest that homosexual identities are acquired in roughly four stages: difference, disassociation, reinterpretation, and commitment. One hundred and fifty confirmed homosexuals, all male, were interviewed. This project is particularly concerned with determining the influence that several analytically distinct dimensions of homosexuality might have on the process where homosexual identities are acquired; these dimensions are often, even typically, found together--but not in all instances. These dimensions are: sexual behavior, sexual attraction, romantic preference, and subcultural involvement.